


That time of the month.

by Kori_chan_draws



Series: finding home (and yourself along the way) [2]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, First Dates, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Menstruation, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Marquis de Lafayette, Trans Alexander Hamilton, Trans Character, Trans Thomas Jefferson, Transgender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-09 18:37:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15273774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kori_chan_draws/pseuds/Kori_chan_draws
Summary: Thomas groaned and pulled the blanket tighter around himself, shivering from the cold. “I’m dying.”Understanding flickered across Alex’s face, and he closed the door behind himself, plopping down on the floor and putting his notebook – why the fuck did he bring his notebook? – next to him. “Is it that time of the month?”“I hate it when someone calls it that,” Thomas grumbled, hiding his face in his blanket. “My body is turning against me and people act like it’s just a moody phase or something.”*Also, Jemmy-James makes his appearance, and it's gonna be cute. <3





	That time of the month.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this out of 2 reasons:
> 
> 1\. I wanted to rant about menstruations, because having a menstruation sucks and I had stupid cramps when I wrote this, so I guess it should be authentic to some extend?  
> 2\. I wanted to write a second part for this universe for a long time, in which I would introduce James because WE NEED JAMES HERE OKAY?
> 
> Anyways, have fun reading it, and tell me your thoughts please :)  
> Also WARNING I guess? - This is going to discuss things about menstruation, and while it is not explicitely described in detail, you should be careful if that triggers you :)

Thomas was in a bad mood. There was nothing he could do about it. It just happened once in a while; everyone had a bad day every now and then. And knowing what the next days would bring for him did nothing to make him feel any better.

“A grande Vanilla Latte with extra cream,” he ordered, searching his messenger bag for his purse. “Name’s Thomas.” Damn that purse. It had to be somewhere …

The barista wrote down his order with a bored look on his face. “Which size?”

Frowning, Thomas looked up. “I said grande.”

“Well, aren’t you in a good mood today.” He typed something into his computer. “Not my fault if it’s that time of the month.”

Thomas froze up, a cold shiver running down his back. “Excuse me?” Damn his voice for always choosing the worst moments to crack. He could feel his cheeks heating up as the barista shot him an unimpressed look.

“That will be $4.65.”

Thomas cursed himself for the little shake that his hands had when he gave the guy a five-dollar-bill. He very pointedly held out his hand for the change, because no way in hell would he give this guy a tip.

After he received his drink, he made his way across the campus, catching up to the man he saw at the entrance to the lecture hall. “John,” he greeted, tugging at his hoody. He felt self-conscious after the comment in the coffeeshop, and his shoulders were already aching from the binder he wore.

John turned around, grinning broadly at him. “Well, if it isn’t Thommy-boy. How’s it going?”

Immediately, Thomas felt a bit better about himself. He didn’t know how, but John Laurens somehow had the ability to make everything feel at least a little better. “I’m okay, and you? Ready for two hours of Franklin’s rambling?”

“Sure thing!” The freckled man opened the door to the lecture hall and held it open for both of them. “The others should already be in; well, except for Alex, of course.”

Alexander had taken it upon himself to sign in for a third major (Political Science, in addition to his two majors in Law and Economics), and because some of the lectures overlapped, he had asked his friends to bring him notes of the ones that he missed. Since Thomas also studied Political Science, he could provide most of the notes that Alex needed.

When Thomas looked through the rows of students, he saw Gil’s fluffy bun, heard Hercules’ rumbling voice and Angelica laughing giddily, and immediately, his mood brightened a bit. Surely, the next few days wouldn’t be that bad. Right?

 

*

 

“Fuck my life,” Thomas cursed when he went to the toilet for what felt like the 20th time that night. He had horrible stomach cramps and felt terribly weak on his feet. He had always had a bad menstruation, not a single month going by without him being useless for at least two days. Still, every month felt like a whole new mountain to climb.

When he made it back to his bed, he got his phone from the nightstand and texted a quick message to Alexander. It didn’t take long after that for the smaller guy to knock at his door. “Come in,” Thomas cried out.

Alexander pushed the door open. He was wearing a loose sweatshirt and pajama bottoms. His hair was pulled up in a messy bun, and his reading glasses were perched atop of his nose. “What’s up, Jefferson?”

Thomas groaned and pulled the blanket tighter around himself, shivering from the cold. “I’m dying.”

Understanding flickered across Alex’s face, and he closed the door behind himself, plopping down on the floor and putting his notebook – why the fuck did he bring his notebook? – next to him. “Is it that time of the month?”

“I hate it when someone calls it that,” Thomas grumbled, hiding his face in his blanket. “My body is turning against me and people act like it’s just a moody phase or something.”

He heard the man next to him sigh. “I know it’s more than that. Getting your period can be like hell.” He shuffled closer to the bed, glancing under the blanket. “Luckily, I didn’t have bad cramps that often, but my dysphoria was always so much worse when I wouldn’t stop bleeding. I’m so glad that it stopped some time after starting hormone therapy.”

“I hate it.” Thomas felt like crying. Everything about him felt dirty and wrong and painful. “Sorry that I woke you up, I just …” He drifted off, not knowing what to say.

Alex shrugged. “Don’t worry, I wasn’t asleep. I was working on that essay from Franklin.”

“That one isn’t due for another two months …”

“So?” Alexander gave him a flat look, and when Thomas didn’t respond, he smiled. “I’ll get you some painkillers, and then you can go to sleep. I’ll stay here if you want me to. Laf keeps grumbling about me keeping them awake anyways.”

With a thankful smile, Thomas nodded, and when Alex left the room to get the pills for him, he couldn’t help but think about how lucky he was that he and Alex didn’t hate each other anymore.

 

*

 

Thomas woke up again when his cramps started to get worse again. Alex was gone from his room, and on the nightstand, there was a note fixed underneath a thermo cup full of tea. He grabbed the cup and took a mouthful, sighing in appreciation before looking at the note.

_Sorry, gotta run for the lectures. I’ll bring all the notes you need. You took my last painkillers last night, so if you need more, you gotta get them yourself, or send me a text and I’ll bring them tonight. Gil will bring you soup for lunch. See ya_

With a groan, Thomas let himself fall onto his back. He needed the meds if he wanted to get at least _some_ stuff for his courses done today, but that meant that he had to get up, go to a drug store, get dressed, leave his bed …

He thought about it for two whole minutes, before another wave of cramps overtook him and made the decision for him. Fuck his life.

 

*

 

Thomas tugged at his hoody, crossing his arms in front of his chest. He had decided to go to the drug store without putting his binder on, since his back and his stomach cramps were already painful enough. Now that he made his way across the campus, however, he regretted that choice. Logically, he knew that his breasts were small enough to be hidden underneath the oversized hoody, but it still felt like everyone around him stared at him.

When he finally reached the drugstore, he pulled his fingers through his messy afro. When he had outed himself as trans, he had thought about cutting it off, but even though the long hair might have made him look a bit more feminine, he couldn’t bring himself to get rid of them. He had shortened them a bit though, and they looked fluffier than ever, at least according to his friends.

He walked through the aisles, grabbing a bottle of painkillers, as well as a purple packet of pads – if he had to suffer, at least he could suffer with pads in his favorite color, right? – and went over to the cashier. Putting the things on the counter, he pulled out his purse. The guy behind the counter was already scanning his items.

“Would you like a bag for that, sir?”, he asked, at which Thomas smiled. It was nice to be called ‘sir’.

(No, Hamilton, I don’t like it in _that_ way!)

“Yes, please.” When he looked up to hand over the cash, his eyes met the most gentle ones that he had ever seen.

The man in front of him was probably about his age, maybe a year or so younger, and while he was a good head shorter than Thomas, he held himself with a kind of pride that he couldn’t describe. The man was a bit chubby, but somehow, that made him all the more gentle-looking, and it took Thomas’ breath away.

Then, the man smiled. “Sir? The money.”

“Oh, sure.” With a startled twitch, Thomas handed over the money. “You can keep the rest.”

After counting the money, the guy shook his head, his eyes widening in shock. “That’s almost seven dollars! That’s way too much for a tip.”

“I said that you could keep it,” Thomas insisted. He leaned against the counter, sighing softly as another cramp flared up. “Do I know you from somewhere?” Suddenly, he was sure that he had seen the man somewhere around, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

The guy nodded and, although hesitantly, put the money away. “I’m in two of your Philosophy classes. I take that as a minor.”

“Whups. Sorry I didn’t recognize you, uh …”

A smile broke out on the man’s (cute, adorable, absolutely kiss-worthy) face. “James Madison. You’re Thomas, right?”

“James. Yes. I mean, I am. Thomas, that is. Uh … Yeah. Wait, are you the student who transferred here? Oh, never mind.” Thomas chuckled nervously, feeling more stupid than ever. “Uhm. Wow, I’m smooth today.”

James began to grin, but not in a mocking way, more in a wow-you’re-such-a-dork way. “Well, if you insist that you’re better at conversation on another day, maybe you want to prove it?”

“Prove it?” Thomas blushed slightly and bit the inside of his cheek. “What do you mean?”

“Some crazy guy gave me almost seven dollars as a tip today.” James looked at him with a suggestive gaze. “What do you say if I take you out for coffee with that?”

Now, Thomas was left speechless. The guy had seemed almost shy at first, and this was quite the direct approach. Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but feel giddy. “Well, if you insist … I mean, yes, I’d like that. Coffee, I mean. Coffee is great.”

James chuckled softly and wrote down something on a piece of paper. “You can text me, if you want to. Once you’re feeling better, of course.” He put the paper in the shopping bag and handed it over to Thomas. “Get well soon.”

“Thanks … I will.”

 

*

 

That night, Thomas was already feeling a lot better. Gil had come by with their homemade Mac ’n’ Cheese (“Honestly, Thomas, I still don’t understand how you can eat that kraft version after trying my homemade ones”), and they had invited Alex, John, and Hercules to come along. They were all sitting on the floor together, Thomas wrapped in a bunch of blankets, and his cramps were way better now that he had taken some more painkillers.

After his third bowl of comfort food – bless whomever invented Mac ‘n’ Cheese – he settled back, listening to his friends’ chatter, and took out his phone. He had already saved the number that James had written down for him, and now he was contemplating whether or not he should text him.

Chewing on his lip, he began to type out a message, deleted it again, and typed out a new one. He didn’t know what to write. If he was totally honest, he didn’t have much dating experience at all. And this James surely didn’t know what he was getting himself into. He didn’t know that he would get the full transgender-social-anxiety-astrology-nerd-package if he ever went on a date with him.

Or was it even a date that James wanted? Sure, he had talked about coffee, but that could mean … well, just coffee. Nothing date-ish, just a friendly invitation because he had felt guilty about the big tip that Thomas had given.

Suddenly, something hit him on the head, and Thomas looked up with a start.

“Earth to Thomas. Are you with us?”

Gil reached over to grab their hair tie, which had obviously been used to get Thomas’ attention, and proceeded to push their curls into a bun. “What’s up with you? Is your phone so much more important than your friends, _mon ami_?”

Thomas blushed and went to tuck his phone away, when suddenly, it was snatched from his hands by Alexander. “Hey, give that back!” His voice cracked, which made him blush even more, and he grabbed for the phone. However, Alex was faster, jumping up and hiding behind Gil.

“Let’s see. What do we have here?” He looked at the display, which was still turned on, and a grin broke out on his face as he read the half-finished text. “ _Hi James, this is Thomas from the drugstore. Just wanted to text you so that you also have my number. About the coffee_ …” He looked up, raising an eyebrow. “What coffee?”

Gil gasped. “Show that to me!” They read the message, which stopped where Alexander had also stopped reading, and looked at Thomas in shock. “Do you have a date?”

“What? No!”, he immediately answered. Then, he bit his lip and shrugged. “I mean … I don’t really know?”

“You don’t know? What the hell, man.” John laughed quietly. “So who is this ‘James’?”

“He works in the drugstore, and I think he’s a transfer student. I met him today when I went to buy … things.” He shrugged, not bothering to go into detail.

Gil grinned. “And he gave you his number?”

“Yes. He actually asked me out for coffee …” This revelation was followed by a round of shocked gasps, to which Thomas rolled his eyes. “But I don’t know how to respond.” He looked over at Alexander, because the short guy still had his phone, and noticed that he was typing something. “Hey, Alex what are you doing?” Dread filled his stomach. “You’d better not be responding, you little shit, or else, I’ll-“

“And sent.” Alex shot him a grin and threw the phone back into Thomas lap. “You’re welcome.”

Thomas stared at him in horror, then he jumped up and pointed an accusing finger at Alex. “Hamilton, you ass, I can’t believe that you would do that! Have you ever heard anything about privacy? You unsympathetic, daft, stupid … oak! You-“

“Hey, Jeff, you got a text,” Hercules interrupted him, tossing the phone at him.

Thomas scrambled to catch it, and when he looked at the display, he couldn’t help but smile. “He wrote that Saturday is fine with him.”

“Well then.” Gil grinned at him broadly. They patted Alex on the head, making sure to mess up his already messy bun even more. “I guess you have a date. All thanks to Alexander.”

“Right. All thanks to me,” the immigrant confirmed, nodding proudly.

Thomas flipped him off in a playful way. “I’ll make sure to repay the debt by snooping through _your_ phone one day.”

He couldn’t stop smiling the entire night.

 

*

 

“You drink Vanilla Latte with extra cream?” James asked after he had paid for both of their drinks, grinning slightly.

Thomas shrugged. “It’s good. Nothing better than vanilla, right?”

“That is so sweet,” the other man said under his breath, to which Thomas blushed violently.

“W-what?”

“N-no, I, I meant the drink! It must be overflowing with sugar, right?” James held his hands out in front of him, shaking his head. “I mean, not that you’re not sweet or anything, just … ah, crap. Maybe today _I_ ’m not that smooth.”

Thomas couldn’t help but chuckle slightly, and when he saw James’ panicked face, he began to laugh in earnest. “It’s fine, don’t worry. I guess I know what you mean …”

“James and Thomas?” The woman from behind the counter called out their names and handed their drinks over with a smile. “Enjoy your drinks.” She looked Thomas in the eyes for a surprisingly long amount of time, before she had to go back to making drinks for the other customers.

Not thinking anything of it, Thomas followed James to a small table in the backside corner of the coffeeshop. When he put his drink down, however, James snorted. “You must be quite the player.”

“What do you mean?”, Thomas asked, sitting down on the other side of the table and looking at James questioningly.

James pointed to the cup in front of them, the one containing Thomas’ coffee. “She wrote down her phone number.”

Embarrassed, Thomas chuckled softly. He felt a blush creeping onto his face. “I swear, this doesn’t happen to me normally. It’s a total coincidence that it happened twice this week …” He bit his lip, adding something under his breath. “I mean, have I suddenly started growing facial hair or something?”

James shrugged, taking a sip of his tea – the guy drank Earl Grey, but black, without milk or anything. What the hell. “Not as far as I’ve seen. Also, it takes some time after starting T to grow facial hair. You haven’t taken hormones for long, right?”

Thomas looked at him with his mouth slightly open. “I … How do you know that I’m …”

“You bought supplies for your period from me, remember?” When James smiled at him, Thomas couldn’t read any malevolence from his look, so he took that as a good sign.

Swallowing down the anxiety churning in his stomach, he bit his lip. “Yeah. I kinda forgot for a moment. But I’m not … you know … not on hormones. Not yet,” he added quickly. “It’s not that easy to get the prescription because my parents support me, like, not at all, and so I can’t really afford a good doctor, and the one I’m seeing right now wants to give me T, but there’s a problem with the contributions my health insurance pays, and my cousin is trying to help me out, but I don’t want to accept all their money since they already support me so much with paying the study fees here until I get my grandfather’s trust fund when I turn 21. Maybe then, I can afford to go on T, but until then …” He drifted off, realizing how much he had just rumbled. “S-sorry.”

“It’s fine,” James responded with a soft smile. “It’s good for you to let all this out. And I know that health insurance can be a struggle, trust me.” He took another sip before continuing. “I’m majoring in a preparation program for med school, so we talked about some of these issues there.”

“You want to become a doctor?” Impressed by this fact, the man leaned forward in interest.

Nodding, James continued. “Always wanted to. What about you?”

“Oh, I … don’t really know yet, actually.” Thomas shrugged. “I first want to finish my degrees here, and maybe earn some money along the way. But I actually thought about teaching … I like children.” He smiled softly. “My cousin says I should go into politics, but I don’t think so. I hate public speaking.”

“I could see you teaching. You’re surely great with kids.”

“Thanks. I really do hope so …”

James nodded, biting his lip. “So. You said you’d start hormones with 21, probably? How old are you now?”

“I turned 20 in April, so ten months to go.” A warm feeling filled his stomach when he thought about the fact that he would be financially independent in such a short time. “How old are you? 19?” Somehow, James looked younger than Thomas’ other friends, but maybe that also came from the – still adorable, cute, very-much-huggable – chubbiness of his face.

“I turned 18 in March.”

“Oh. But that means that you must have started university with …” Thomas frowned, unsure of himself all of a sudden.

James grinned. “16, actually. I skipped two grades in school; one in elementary school, and then another one in high school.”

“Holy crap, I’m on a date with a genius,” Thomas said before he could stop himself.

Laughing, James reached across the table to pat his hand. “You’ll get over it. Don’t worry.”

Thomas also smiled, a little ashamed of his reaction. Before he knew it, he turned his hand around and took hold of James’ fingers. In this moment, they both stilled, looking at each other. There was a slight blush spreading across James’ cheeks, and Thomas could feel his face burning. But when he wanted to withdraw his hand, James held onto it gently.

“I like the fact that you recognized this as a date,” he said eventually. “And I would very much like to take you on another one soon.”

Thomas’ skin tingled where it made contact with James’ soft fingers, and after hesitating for a short moment, he began to stroke the smaller hand with his thumb. “Actually, I think I have to decline.” Before James could draw back his hand with a surprised look, Thomas tangled their fingers together and held onto them. “Because _I_ would like to take _you_ out on a date, next.”

“Oh …” A look of relieve washed over James’ face, and he nodded. “Alright. I would love that.”


End file.
